Dealing
by abbygrrl89
Summary: OneShot. How everybody is dealing with Marissa's passing. They're growing up. Maybe Marissa was just never meant to.


**This is just a one shot. so "It's You and Me" is still going.lol this is just how everybody is dealing with Marissa's passing. how you guys like.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the OC. **

"Ryan?"

Sandy opens the door to the pool house and sees Ryan lying in bed. His eyes are closed but Sandy could tell he's not asleep. Sandy sits on the edge of the bed, letting out a small sigh. "How you doin', kid?"

"I don't feel like talking to anyone right now, Sandy." Ryan says blankly, rolling over.

"I know…" Sandy says softly. "But just remember that—

"I can always talk to you guys…" Ryan mutters, "I know." Sandy nods his head and begins to walk out of the pool house. Ryan lets out a small sigh and sits up. "Wait, Sandy." Sandy stops and turns around to face Ryan again. "I'm sorry. I just…I can't. It hurts…it hurts too much."

Sandy walks back and sits beside Ryan. "The sooner you talk about it, the sooner the wounds can begin to heal." Ryan looks away, not saying anything. "But until then, we're right here for you. Always. Remember that, kid,"

Ryan nods and looks at Sandy again. "Thanks." Sandy nods, and walks out of the pool house.

Ryan sits up on his bed and remembers what Julie Cooper had said to him, the day of the funeral.

"_Ryan?"_

_Ryan looks away from the setting sun and sees Julie standing behind him. "Oh, hello Mrs. Cooper."_

_Ryan sees a small smile form on Julie's face as she walks over beside him. "You've never called me that before." She says softly, not looking at him._

_Ryan lets out a small laugh, "Just trying to be polite."_

_Julie nods and lets out a small sigh. "So, are you excited for college? I mean, Berkeley, that's really something huh?"_

"_I'm not going." Ryan says easily._

"_What do you mean?" Julie asks, still looking out at the horizon. She isn't surprised at Ryan's response._

_Ryan shrugs idly, and puts his hands in his pocket. "I don't want to. Doesn't seem right."_

"_Because…Marissa's not going to be there." Julie says, now looking at him. Ryan doesn't say anything. "Listen, Ryan. You were my daughter's first love, her only love. She would've wanted what was best for you…what would've made you happy. And, I think, that you do wanna go to Berkeley, go to college, and have a good life, because that would make you happy. And, Marissa would want you to do what makes you happy."_

_Ryan stays still and says nothing. He knows that him and Julie never saw eye to eye before, but they aren't that different from each other. He suddenly feels tears begin to sting his eyes and remembers the last 3 years of his life. "You're a good kid, Ryan. I'm sorry for everything I've done to you before that made you think other wise. I know you're gunna do great in college. You know you wanna do this, if not for you, then for Marissa."_

_He looks at Julie and nods his head. Julie smiles at him and puts a hand on his shoulder as they both look at the beautifully setting sun. "I'll do my best. I will never stop trying for her." He says out loud and he feels Julie's hand squeeze his shoulder a little tighter._

Ryan lets out a sigh and runs his hand through his hair. "It's time I try a little harder, Marissa." He gets out of bed and jumps in the shower.

* * *

"So you talked to him?" Kirsten asks her husband in the kitchen.

"Tried, he's not ready yet." Sandy says with a small sigh as he pours himself a cup of coffee.

"Well, we've gotta do something." Kirsten says, worry in her voice.

"Like what Mom? We can't drag him out of the house and say, 'Get better Ryan.'" Seth says, walking into the kitchen.

"He'll talk to us when he's ready. And until that time comes, we're just going to be supportive." Sandy says before taking a sip of his coffee. Almost as if on cue, Ryan walks into the kitchen and pours himself a cup of coffee, looking refreshed. The Cohens look at each other expectantly and Ryan turns around, taking a sip.

"What are we having for breakfast?" he asks casually.

"Umm, bagels?" Kirsten asks, handing him the basket.

"Thanks." Ryan says as he takes a bagel and takes a bite out of it. "Seth, I was thinking, you and me could go out today…umm, the beach? Maybe? Ask Summer to come."

"Sure, buddy. Just, let me go and take a shower." Seth says, glancing at his parents with a small smile.

"Great, I'll be in the pool house." Ryan says. "Umm, thank you, guys. For, you know, being there. I know I haven't been the most fun to hang around with." He utters, before walking out of the door.

"We're family, kid. We're all in this together." Sandy says, putting a hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"Always." Kristen puts in. Ryan smiles and walks out of the kitchen. And for once in a long time, he feels just a little better.

* * *

"Hey, buddy." Seth says as he walks into the pool house.

"Hey, man. You called Summer yet?" Ryan asks as he puts on his watch.

"Actually, I was thinking you should call her. I think it would mean more if you asked her yourself."

Ryan sits down on the bed and nods his head a few times until reaching for the phone. "Hey, Summer…yeah, umm, I was thinking, we should go to the beach, you, me and Seth…come on, you know we all need it…"

Seth watches as his friend talks on the phone and he smiles to himself knowing that maybe, just maybe, they were all going to be okay.

"Great, so we'll pick you up in like 20 minutes okay? Awesome. We'll see you soon then. Later."

Ryan hangs up the phone and looks over at Seth, sitting on the chair. "What did she say?" Seth asks.

"She didn't want to at first. But, we all need this. So I told her we'd pick her up soon." Ryan replies.

"That's awesome, man. So, you doin' better then?" Seth asks, hoping he wouldn't trigger anything that would wake up the old Ryan Atwood.

Ryan nods a few times, looks down at his hands and then back over at Seth. "Yeah."

Seth nods, knowing to just leave it at that. Ryan might never be okay again, but if this is how good it's gunna get for awhile then there might be a chance things will get better. Not normal, but better.

* * *

"Summer?"

Summer looks over at the door. "Oh, hey Kaitlyn." Kaitlyn gives her a small smile and walks over to her soon-to-be-step-sister. "What do you have there?" Summer asks looking at the box that Kaitlyn was carrying.

"It's umm, some of my sister's stuff," she replies, putting the box down on Summer's bed. "My mom thought you and Ryan should have it."

Summer swallows the small lump in her throat and nods. "Thanks…" she says silently. Kaitlyn nods her head a few times and begins to make her way out the door. "Wait, Kaitlyn. Do you…do you wanna sit with me for a while?" Summer asks hopefully. Her and Kaitlyn haven't really talked before and she thought that this might be the best time. After all, Kaitlyn probably hasn't gotten a chance to talk to somebody about what had happened.

Kaitlyn nods with a smile and sits next to Summer on the bed. "So, how are you doing?" Summer asks.

"I'm okay…" Kaitlyn utters softly, not looking at Summer.

Summer nods, knowing she can't force the girl to talk about her dead sister. "Well, just know that I'm here, if you wanna talk. I mean, we are gunna be sisters right?" she says with a small laugh. Kaitlyn smiles and Summer realizes that the younger girl is actually full on fighting back tears. "She really loved you, you know that?"

Kaitlyn nodded again, tears now rolling down her face. "I really looked up to her. No one knows that, but I did. I know she wasn't exactly the best big sister but she's always been so strong. I mean, my parents were always so proud of her; she's the smart one, the pretty one and the pride and joy of the family, despite all her faults. And, every minute of the day that I live and my sister doesn't, " She says, her voice beginning to break "This is probably the worst thing to say, but I get so pissed off…I hate her for leaving. I know it's partially my fault that we didn't get to know each other better, but why did she have to go? It's not fair. After everything, why did she suddenly give up? I'm mad at her for leaving like this."

Summer nods, knowing exactly how she feels. "I know, sweetie…" Kaitlyn begins to sob and Summer pulls her into her embrace and Kaitlyn sobs into Summer's shoulder.

Ryan and Seth make their way up to Summer's bedroom and they see the two girls holding each other on the bed. Seth knocks on the door and Kaitlyn straightens up and wipes the tears away from her face.

"Hey." Summer says softly.

Kaitlyn forces a small smile on her face and gets up from the bed. "I better go. I still have to go and clean up Marissa's room."

"Wait, umm, do you guys mind if I stay and help her?" Summer asks the boys.

"Actually, we can stay. I wanna help." Ryan begins to say. "I mean, if that's okay." He says, looking at Kaitlyn.

"That'd be great. Thanks." Kaitlyn replies with a smile.

"Sure, I love cleaning." Seth says jokingly. The other three laugh silently and they make their way into the other room.

Through out the remainder of the day, they went through all of Marissa's things. Suddenly, Summer remembers the box that Kaitlyn had brought to her and decides to go through that next.

To a person who did not know Marissa Cooper, they would say that there isn't much in the box, just incongruous mix of memories. But to them, everything that was in that box meant something great to Marissa and to them. There were notes that Marissa and Summer used to write to each other in class, there were even some from middle school. There were pictures of the fantastic four but a particular one caught Summer's eye. It was a picture of them in Tijuana, leaning on the car. It was a happy and carefree moment despite the fact that they had to sleep in a sleazy motel. It was before Oliver, Theresa, Trey, and Johnny. And she remembers that it was probably a few hours before Marissa found out about her parents and Luke. They looked really happy, like how teenagers were suppose to look like. And she can't understand why all of this is happening now, why everybody is hurting when their suppose to be excited for college, making a life of their own.

Seth looks over at Summer and he sees the box. He reaches over and picks up a small white box. He opens it slowly and sees the necklace nestled in carefully folded white tissue paper. Summer remarks that she wonders who gave that to Marissa and why it's in there. But Seth knows, he recalls that Valentine's Day when him and Ryan trailed around the mall looking for something, anything that Ryan could give Marissa in his last attempt to salvage what was left of their relationship, because as he said, shouldn't actions speak louder than words?

Seth walks over to Ryan and hands him the small white box. Almost instantly, Ryan feels a small ache in his chest. He looks up at his three friends and smiles as he walks over to the box and picks up the teddy bear. He then walks over to Summer's bed and places the purple bear next to the plastic horse with the turquoise mane. He turns around and faces Seth, Summer and Kaitlyn and Summer walks over to Ryan and wraps her arms around him.

"Share bear will never let Princess Sparkle down." Ryan whispers into her ear. Summer pulls away and smiles, wiping tears from face. She looks over at Cohen who was smiling at his two friends, because now, he knows that the two people that he loved most, besides his parents were going to be okay. Because now, they're older, and more mature, more serious and more committed. It's scary but it's simple enough. It happens.

They were growing up, and maybe Marissa was just never meant to.

Ryan puts his arm around Kaitlyn and Seth puts his arm around Summer. "Let's go sailing." He says.

They all agree. They could keep the rest of the world away a little while longer.


End file.
